Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Britania)
Believe it or not, Mystery Science Theater 3000 had a Italian adaptation. It aired on RTB2 in Britania and in Italy and has since been released on video and DVD. In NTSC (Britania) and PAL (Italy). The late Ron Red (born in 1950 in Newburg, NY, USA, moved to Britania in 1968, died in 2003 on the Britanian Turnpike), one of the heads of Britanian entertainment company Britania Film Studio (the film studio of RTB), was inspired by the wise-cracking robots. He became a MST-tie by watching reruns received from West Cybersland's WCT1 via TV-dxing, which inspired him to pursue the rights to produce an Italian adaptation of the show. He approached the Best Brains in 1992, but was initially denied, told that he was only allowed to air the show dubbed. He felt that "putting Italian words into American MST-ties' mouths" wouldn't work. Realizing that the show riffed only a few Italian films, he said "How about we make new episodes featuring Italy and Britania's worst and best films alongside the cheesy movies in the experiment!" This sealed the deal and, under strict guidelines, the show could be produced. One of these guidelines was that the American film MST3K-ings could only be adapted from the US counterparts, with very few script changes. When the agreement went through, it cost Britania Film Studio $24.00 per episode to produce (Only $20.00 per episode went to the Best Brains), making it one of the most cheapest shows produced in Britania and Italy. Replicas of Cambot, Gypsy, Tom Servo, and Crow were built using resins based off the original parts used to build the robot puppets. Cambot was rarely seen in the actual show, because the puppet was also used a camera in some RTB idents. The show featured Ron portraying Ron Bellboy, the adaptation's counterpart of Joel and Mike. Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank were replaced by Professor Maniac (played by Gabriele Paolini) and TV's Aldo (played by Aldo Baglio), while Pearl, Bobo, and Brain Guy were replaced by Gobo (played by Gobo Stevens), Cowie (played by Aldo Baglio), and Nowie (played by Ron Red). Local marionette puppeteers were casted to play Cambot, Tom Servo, Gypsy, and "Croooooooooooooow!" for the show. Sometimes, the puppets were not wrecked to do scenes. On the adaptation's version of Danger!! Death Ray, Crow was sprayed with orange and yellow Silly String rather than being burned with fire to "avoid losing the great "Croooooooooooooooooooooow!" in a horrible fire." Voice actors for the puppets and characters included Cristina D'Avena (voicing Gypsy), Gabriele Paolini (voicing Tom Servo), Giacomo Poretti (voicing Crow), Roberto Pregadio (voicing the Magic Voice), and The Nanites (all voiced by Aldo, Giovanni & Giacomo). Ron died in a car crash in 2003 on the Britanian Turnpike. His cremated ashes were given to Best Brains, Inc. and KTMA by RTB in 2004. Crow and the MST3K bots then appeared on Popcorn Theater during a showing of Danger!! Death Ray in 2003 weeping over Ron's death. 1993-1999 Category:TV Shows Category:Britania Category:Mystery Science Theater 3000